Cohousing Conference 2015

Over 450 people flocked to Durham, North Carolina for the 2015 cohousing conference. The first time in three years this international group has convened, there were many new faces amongst the familiar old friends. Participants came from as far as Australia, China, France and South Korea as well as many of the US states.

The conference theme was "The Next Generation", and this was very fitting given the keen interest in urban Cohousing projects. Historically the US communities have been largely suburban and rural, however a newly completed project in downtown Durham demonstrated that urban cohousing could be beautiful, sustainable and successful.

There were bus tours of original communities, sessions talking about group process and getting the work done, as well as presentations about developing traditions in community and food programs.

Schemata's own Grace Kim lead an "intensive" workshop on common house design, and co-presented with Sheila Hoffman of Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing on their process for developing an affordable urban cohousing project. 

Peggy's Updates from the AIA National Convention 2015- Women in Design

A group of Seattle Women in Design participants met up in Atlanta for the AIA National Convention last weekend.  I was going to write up highlights and then saw that Rosa Sheng had already done so on the Missing 32% Project Blog:

http://themissing32percent.com/blog/2015/5/17/equity-by-design-aia-convention-atlanta-recap

Here are a few highlights from her blog post:

Yet another first, 2 galleries that recognized equity challenges and women in architecture. They were located near each other and facilitated the Equity discussion at convention. The Equity in Architecture early findings infographics were on display outside of B308 with healthy traffic and positive reception. The AIA Houston WIA Exhibit had a traveling gallery version that also had many visitors and discussion. 

The newly elected AIA National officers show promise not only for representing a diverse Board, but also carrying through with the change that the institute needs to remain relevant and impactful in the future. The officers are Thomas Vonier, President-elect for 2017, Stuart Coppedge, Treasurer. Jennifer Workman, L. Jane Frederick, and Anthony Schirripa will serve as Delegates at Large. Additionally, Don King, Thierry Paret, and Deepika Padaam will join them as elected Board members from the AIA Strategic Council. Robert Ivy mentioned Equity by Design as an inspiration for the AIA 2015 Diversity Survey. The early results of the survey will be presented at the AIA Women's leadership summit in Seattle on September 18: Celebrating Women Leaders, Promoting Cultural Change.

Perhaps the most exciting outcome of the convention was the success of advocacy for Resolution 15-1 Equity in Architecture that was co-authored with Julia Donoho, Frank Pitts and Rosa Sheng; co-sponsored by AIASF, AIACC; and supported by the AIA National Board of Directors, Strategic Council, AIA Diversity Council and Big Sibs. The list of supporters goes beyond this base, to all the 4117 AIA delegates who voted in support of the resolution. We are deeply grateful of the solidarity for equitable practice and excited for the work ahead.

One more thing to add to her summary: We all attended the Women in Architecture annual dinner on Thursday night at the Wimbish House.  http://www.thewimbishhouse.com/  There was a great presentation from two principals (AIA fellows and sisters!) from McAfee3 Architects Inc.  http://mcafee3.com/  Also updates from the Missing 32% Project and Christine and I promoted the AIA Women's Leadership Summit.  http://www.aiawls.org/

All these actions show that our movement of creating equity in architecture is really gaining momentum!

Capitol Hill Community Meeting

Schemata Workshop is pleased to announce that we are part of the winning development team for the sites over the future Capitol Hill Light Rail Station. On May 16th we attended a community outreach meeting hosted by the Capitol Hill Champion Steering Committee. Led by Gerding Edlen, the sites' developer, and joined by Berger Partnership and Hewitt, we answered community questions and presented our early conceptual ideas for the site. 

Boards were provided with information on each building site and for the plaza, retail, and overall concept. They included both conceptual images and images of past projects completed by the development team.

Seattle Farmers Markets provided delicious snacks to nibble on from local farms and Rachel's Ginger Beer handed out samples. 

The CH Champion recorded who attended and what they wanted to see on the site. They had on display all of the compiled community wants from the last 5 years and did a fantastic job encouraging more input.

Staff from each firm on the development team were on hand to answer any questions. We had some great information about affordable housing, programming for the plaza, and future amenities including a day care, community room, and co-working space.

The positive community input was a fantastic experience. This project is one that is uniting the neighborhood, and along with the light rail station, they will bring a new vibrancy to the area.  We can't wait to get started!

ROOTS Breakfast

On May 7th, several of us had the pleasure of preparing breakfast at ROOTS, a young adult shelter located in Seattle's University District.  ROOTS provides "shelter and other essential services to homeless young adults" between the ages of 18-25.  ROOTS (Rising Out Of The Shadows) is located in the basement of the University Temple United Methodist Church, in the church's former social hall.  

Nathan, Andrew and Roma discussing the finer points of pancake-making

When we arrived at 6:15, we had to be as quiet as possible, as the shelter's guests were still asleep.  The first order of business, after making coffee of course, was figuring out the layout of the shelter's gigantic kitchen.  Our menu included pancakes, bagels, fruit salad, and sausages, with "dine-in" or "take-away" options provided.  

Margaret and Nathan on bagel duty, just before breakfast was served

Though it was a bit hectic getting everything together, we were able to get everything prepared in time to serve the shelter's guests.  On any given night, ROOTS can host up to 45 guests; when they are at capacity, they work with other organizations to provide shelter to those in need.  It was rewarding for all of us to see that we had helped make the day better for the shelter's guests.  

Executive director Kristine Cunningham explains how ROOTS works

After serving breakfast, Kristine Cunningham, the executive director of ROOTS, gave us a tour of the space, showing how a recent renovation had allowed the shelter to increase its capacity.  She also described how many people end up there; often as a result of "graduating" from the foster care system only to find that they were on their own.  They have seen a correlation between demand and the increased cost of living in Seattle.  

One eye-opener for some of us was the fact that many of the shelter's guests did not fit our preconceived notions of what homelessness looks like; many of the shelter guests were people who you wouldn't guess to be homeless at first glance.  The ROOTS breakfast was the first in a series of events that Schemata is undertaking as part of a "Year of Service" volunteering campaign.  

New Hire, New Perspectives

When we received an email a month ago from a high school student looking for an internship we weren't looking to add to the Schemata family. We didn't need anyone else to manage. We weren't sure what tasks that we could provide. The email was incredibly well written though, so on a whim the resume was opened. 

The first part that grabbed attention was his about me: "Making things gets me excited; understanding things helps me relax. I'm a lover of human and computer languages and a devotee of all types of design. The natural and built environment fascinate me; I spend my spare time exploring the world. I like my bike trails bumpy and my coffee iced."

With an intro like that, it would've been a shame not to at least talk with such a talented and confident writer. And a few weeks later, Nathan Greenstein has joined the Schemata Team.

 Nathan plans to be with us for two months before proceeding to Dartmouth College. In terms of what he's going to study, the answer is up in the air. "I don’t know what I want to study yet. The honest answer right now is “everything,” but I’m hoping something in particular will grab me in the next couple years. My guess is that it will involve people and involve language."

Ten things to know about him are:

1.       I buy a new font each year to set all my schoolwork in, and I’ll talk about its character and nuance until you make me stop. (This year was Ashbury by Hoftype.)

2.       I’ve recently enjoyed The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz, and The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje.

3.       I spend a lot of energy working as efficiently as possible so I have more free time to do important things like sit at Green Lake and daydream.

4.       I once wrote a 300-word ode to my favorite mechanical pencil. It quoted Romeo and Juliet. (The Pentel Techniclick G, if you’re curious.)

5.       Calvin and Hobbes, my earliest exposure to magical realism, probably had a significant role in shaping my worldview. Draw from that what you will.

6.       I drilled holes in the walls of my room to put up a hammock. My parents were not as pleased as I was.

7.       I love cleaning. Vacuuming and ironing especially. Washing windows is good too. Do you need anything cleaned?

8.       My phone is set to Spanish, 24-hour time, Celsius, and the metric system because it seems like good practice for traveling. People have stopped borrowing my phone.

9.       I do not believe in sunglasses because I reject the premise that there is such a thing as too much sun.

10.   I will give you an all-night walking tour of Seattle’s most strange, secret, ugly, and beautiful places. And then a totally different one the next day.

And the one thing he'd never tell us about himself otherwise is...There exists on YouTube a video of me and two other guys wearing short skirts and tight tank tops while singing and dancing to “Waka Waka” by Shakira. It was a project for Spanish class. We killed it.

If you find Nathan as interesting as we do and want to know more about him you can follow @ngreenstein on Twitter or Instagram.

We welcome Nathan to our team and look forward to the work he does here. Included in that will be creating graphic renderings of current and past projects, compiling precedent research, and blogging. Watch for more from Nathan in the near future!